Peter V. Brett has won accolades from critics, fans and fellow authors alike for this riveting debut novel. The Warded Man features a world where demons stalk the night, hunting humans who have long forgotten the magic of their ancestors. But all is not lost, as some hold out hope that a savior will release humanity from the demons' terrifying reign.

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Peter V. Brett has won accolades from critics, fans and fellow authors alike for this riveting debut novel. The Warded Man features a world where demons stalk the night, hunting humans who have long forgotten the magic of their ancestors. But all is not lost, as some hold out hope that a savior will release humanity from the demons' terrifying reign.

The novel is amazing granted a few things, first the character set up is at least 35-40% of this story. The writer does a great job showing their development vs telling it via reflection, you can see the characters growing. Secondly, this book is intended to be one of several, because of that there seems to be a lot of minor loose ends. All of that aside, I think the novel was amazing. Very well thought out, structured and executed. Amazing character development and over all interesting. It kept my attention from the very beginning. Now for the narration, originally I thought Pete Bradbury was going to be too dry to endure. Surprisingly this novel suits him allowing him to show case his control over his voice. However, there are few times where knowing who is speaking can become problem. Overall, the novel is very pleasing and highly suggested.

If you're looking for entertaining, competently-written escapist fantasy, you could do worse than the Warded Man. As might be expected in a book where bestial demons rise out of the ground every night to terrorize human beings protected by fragile magic wards, there's not a whole lot of subtlety to either the characters or the writing, but I found the story engrossing nonetheless. Brett confidently draws the reader into the fine details of his three protagonists' lives, gradually adding twists and internal conflicts as they grow from childhood, and I found myself staying awake "just one more chapter". The world reminded me a bit of Stephen King's The Wizard and the Glass, with its part medieval, part Wild West, and part post-apocalypse setting, though the mix here leans more towards the former.

Yeah, the book has its flaws. The prose can be adverb-heavy, the side characters are a little exaggerated, and the demons themselves have all the personality of monsters from the computer game DOOM. (On a side note, some readers have also complained about the rape scenes, but I didn't find the author's choice to include them objectionable -- I thought they fit in with the harshness of the novel's world.)

But, overall, I found The Warded Man an enjoyable read and got sucked into the book's world. I liked the conflicted central characters and the portrayal of human society in uneasy coexistence with an ever-present (if mindless) supernatural threat. Usually, I don't mention the audiobook experience, but, in this case, the narrator, whose voice was perfect for this kind of tale, probably added something. Give it a shot. I immediately downloaded the sequel upon finishing.

Brett builds characters extremely well. He spends the entirety of "The Warded Man" developing fascinating personal histories for the three who will, presumably, be the prime movers in the action of the rest of the story. Their journeys are tortuous, often surprising and quite satisfying. By the end we know them intimately so that their every action is rooted in convincing personal history.

Unfortunately I did not find myself nearly so convinced of the reality of the world in which the author places his wonderful players. We are asked to believe that no one in this civilization has ever conceived of the most obvious responses to the plague of demons which terrorizes them. As a result, the whole structure of the story is weakened as we ask ourselves "why don't they just...." Of course they DO eventually "just...." But by asking us to assume a complete lack of imagination and initiative on the part of the entire population of the book, Brett immeasurably weakens his story and renders his marvelously drawn central characters slightly ridiculous.

The most important central conflict Brett paints in this book is between the people and their own immobilizing fear. At some moments that comes through clearly and powerfully, but fear and simple stupidity are two entirely different things.

I didn't think I was going to like this book as much as I now do. I'm a gamer, I download audiobooks to pass my time in games with a lil background entertainment. This book was so good, it made me stop gaming, log off and I just listen. It's not in the least bit scarey so I don't know what it's doing listed under horror. Reguardless, the story was Very entertaining. The narrator did a pretty good job with voices. He didn't do those high pitched, annoying sounding "female" voices. I related to all the characters, even the minor ones and I actually cared what happend to them. There's only one not believable part concerning the main female character in the woods. But other than that, I highly recommend this story. There's a sequil comming out that I will deffinitly buy. It's Very rare that I rave about a book, so trust me on this one. Get it.

Why does a great story like this have to be found on accident? How come this book is not being advertised? This is as great as any fiction I have read! The next one is soon to be out as well! If You mix the best of King with the best of Gaiman and combine the best of Koontz as well then it will be something like this!!!!

I was looking for more of a contemporary, post-apocalyptic fantasy book when I came across this novel. The synopsis was very intriguing and the narration in the sample wasn't bad, so I picked it up despite it not being what I was looking for. I expected to not make it very far in, as I tend to give up on books quickly if the first chapter can't hold my attention. I thought the demons would feel hokey and put me off to the rest of the story. Surprisingly, I found myself unable to put it down. The characters and world are well-detailed and quite engrossing. The narration is good as well. I liked it so much that once I was done with it instantly had to pick up the sequel, The Desert Spear.

Without question, one of the finest and most original books I have ever read.

This book was purchased on a whim and now I cannot wait until the next book. The originality of the world and the Corelings, as well as the marvelous character development make this a must read for anyone who enjoys Steven King et al.

I was searching for a new book to listen to when The Warded Man popped up as a recommendation while looking at another book. I had never heard of Peter V. Brett or the book itself. The description of the book sounded exciting, so I gave it a try.

At first I thought I had made a mistake. The story starts out with the life of a young boy who lives in a town tortured by demons who come at night. The story starts out a little slow, and I wasn't sure I had made a good choice. Just as I was thinking I had made a mistake, the story began pull me in. The boy goes through many tribulations on his way to becoming the hero of the story, and as the book goes on, and other charterers enter the picture, The Warded Man grew to be one of my favorite books.

Considering I didn't expect much from a book I had never heard of, what a great surprise it was to find such a gem. I would recommend this book to anyone.

This book is addictive, engrossing and exciting. It initially roughly follows the "hero's journey" plot structure, but sets itself up to branch out quite a bit in scope in the subsequent novels. Can't wait for the sequel!

The Book:
Every aspect of this book; characters, story, mythology and dialog, is so well thought out that one may feel this is actually a recanting of events and be so drawn into the tale you may need to set an alarm, in order to return to our world. I am excitedly looking forward to the ongoing story in the Second book (The Desert Spear) as well as the novella (The Great Bazaar and Other Stories) coming out in January '10.

The Narration:
An audio book is nothing without a solid narrator and Pete Bradbury nails it. I found myself so lost in the reading that I forgot it was an audio book. In hindsight I was never removed from the story due to the pacing, reading, inflection or tone of the narrator. In my opinion, that is the highest praise I can bestow on the narrator.

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